Help:Citing sources
__NOSHAREDHELP__ Wikipedia defines a citation, or reference, as something that uniquely identifies a source of information. For example, one might look similar to this: Citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which an article is based. In most cases citations appear in the form of footnotes, although they can also appear within the body of an article. Citations indicated by a superscript number or other means in a line of text are called inline citations. The Central Oregon Wiki is not as strict as Wikipedia when it comes to citation policies. Unsourced material will not be removed (unless it violates our vandalism policy), however editors are asked to provide citations for their additions to the wiki in order to help the veracity of our articles. This help page explains how to place and format citations. While it's requested that you try to write citations in a manner that is consistent with the rest of the wiki, the most important thing is that you provide enough information to identify the source. Others can improve the formatting of your citation, if needed. When and why to cite sources By citing sources, you enable users to verify that the information given is reliable and true, thus improving the credibility the information and the wiki. You also help users find additional information on the subject that they are researching. Additionally, you avoid plagiarising the source of your words or ideas by giving attribution. For an image or other media file, details of its origin and copyright status should appear on its file page. Image captions can be referenced as appropriate just like any other part of the article. A citation is not needed for descriptions such as alt text that are verifiable directly from the image itself, or for text that merely identifies a source (e.g., the caption "Belshazzar's Feast (1635)" below an image of that particular painting). Basics of citing For a citation to appear at the bottom of an article, it needs to be enclosed in "ref" tags. You can add these by typing at the front of the citation and at the end. For example: Which will display in the article like this: Note, if this is a new page or if there are not already references previously cited, it is necessary to create a section where the citations will appear. At the end of the page, create a section named "References". Below the section name, place the template code that will create the list of citations. It should look something like this: }} The citations will then automatically be listed under that section heading. Each numbered marker in the text is a clickable link to the corresponding footnote, and each footnote contains an arrow which links back to the corresponding point in the text. Repeated citations For multiple use of the same citation or footnote, you can also use named references, choosing a name to identify the citation, and typing details of the citation. Thereafter, the same footnote may be reused any number of times simply by adding . What information to include Listed below is the information which a typical citation or reference will provide, though other details may be added as necessary. This information is included in order to identify the source, assist readers in finding it, and indicate the place in the source where the information is to be found. Books, journals, and periodicals Page numbers are not required for a reference to the book or article as a whole, though specifying the page number or range of page numbers with citing a lengthy source is helpful to anyone hoping to reference the same information. When you specify a page number, it is helpful to specify the version (date and edition for books) of the source because the layout, pagination, length, etc. can change between editions. If there are no page numbers, whether in ebooks or print materials, then you can list other means of identifying the relevant section of a lengthy work, such as the chapter number or the section title. In some works, such as plays and ancient works, there are standard methods of referring to sections, such as "Act 1, scene 2" for plays and Bekker numbers for Aristotle's works. Use these methods whenever appropriate. Citations for books typically include: * name of the author(s) * title of the book in italics * volume when appropriate * city of publication is optional * name of the publisher * year of publication * chapter or page number(s) where appropriate * ISBN is optional :Citations for individually authored chapters in books typically include: :* name of author :* the title of the chapter :* name of the book's editor :* name of book and other details as above :* the chapter number or page numbers for the chapter are optional Citations for journal articles typically include: * name of the author(s) * year and sometimes month of publication * title of the article within quotation marks * name of the journal in italics * volume number, issue number, and page numbers (article numbers in some electronic journals) * DOI and/or other identifiers are optional Citations for newspaper articles typically include: * byline (author's name), if any * title of the article within quotation marks * name of the newspaper in italics * city of publication (if not included in name of newspaper), in parentheses * date of publication (the "cite news" template places the date after the byline if there is one) * page number(s) are optional Audio and video sources Specify the time at which the event or other point of interest occurs. Be as precise as possible about the version of the source that you are citing; for example, movies are often released in different editions or "cuts". Due to variations between formats and playback equipment, precision may not be accurate in some cases. However, many government agencies do not publish minutes and transcripts but do post video of official meetings online; generally the subcontractors who handle audio-visual are quite precise. Citations for sound recordings typically include: * name of the composer(s)/songwriter(s)/script writer(s) * name of the performer(s) * title of the song or individual track in quotation marks * title of the album in italics (if applicable) * name of the record label * year of release * medium (for example: LP, audio cassette, CD, MP3 file) * approximate time at which event or point of interest occurs, where appropriate Citations for films, TV episodes, or video recordings typically include: * name of the director * name of the producer, if relevant * names of major performers * for a TV episode, the title of the episode in quotation marks * title of the film or TV series in italics * name of the studio * year of release * medium (for example: film, videocassette, DVD) * approximate time at which event or point of interest occurs, where appropriate Electronic sources A citation of an electronic source ideally includes a link or ID number to help editors locate the source. If you have a URL (webpage) link, you can add it to the title part of the citation, so that when you add the citation the URL becomes hidden and the title becomes clickable. To do this, enclose the URL and the title in square brackets —- the URL first, then a space, then the title. For example: For web-only sources with no publication date, the "Retrieved" date (or the date you accessed the webpage) should be included, in case the webpage changes in the future. For example: Retrieved 15 July 2011. You can also add an ID number to the end of a citation. The ID number might be an ISBN for a book, a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for an article, or any of several ID numbers that are specific to particular article databases, such as a PMID number for articles on PubMed. It may be possible to format these so that they are automatically activated and become clickable when added to the article, for example by typing ISBN (or PMID) followed by a space and the ID number. Google Books allows book pages to be linked to directly, where the book is available for preview. These can be written in a number of ways, with or without citation templates: * Rawls, John. [http://books.google.com/books?id=kvpby7HtAe0C&pg=PA18 A Theory of Justice]. Harvard University Press, 1971, p. 18. * Rawls 1971, p. 18. * Rawls 1971, p. 18. * Rawls 1971, p. 18. In edit mode, the URL for p. 18 of A Theory of Justice looks like this: * Rawls, John. [http://books.google.com/books?id=kvpby7HtAe0C&pg=PA18 A Theory of Justice]. Harvard University Press, 1971, p. 18. When the page number is a Roman numeral, commonly seen at the beginning of books, the URL looks like this: * http://books.google.com/books?id=kvpby7HtAe0C&pg=PR17 — for page xvii of the same book. Page links should only be added when the book is available for preview; they will not work with snippet view. Keep in mind that availability varies by location. No editor is required to add page links, but if another editor adds them, they should not be removed without cause. Citations for World Wide Web pages typically include: * URL of the webpage * name of the author(s) * title of the article within quotation marks * name of the website * date of publication * page number(s) (if applicable) * the date you retrieved (or accessed) the webpage (required if the publication date is unknown) For more information about using links in your citation, see further down. Citation style While citations should aim to provide the information listed above, this wiki does not have a single house style, though citations within any given article should follow a consistent style. A number of citation styles exist, including: APA style, ASA style, MLA style, The Chicago Manual of Style, Author-date referencing, Vancouver system and Bluebook. Although nearly any consistent style may be used, avoid all-numeric date formats, because of the ambiguity concerning which number is the month and which the day. For example, rather than citing a date as 11/06/2002, it should be spelled out as 06 November 2002 (or abbreviated as 06 Nov 2002). Variation in citation methods Editors should not attempt to change an article's established citation style merely on the grounds of personal preference, to make it match other articles, or without first seeking consensus for the change. If the article you are editing is already using a particular citation style, you should follow it; if you believe it is inappropriate for the needs of the article, seek consensus for a change on the talk page. As with spelling differences, unless there is consensus to change, defer to the style used by the first major contributor. If you are the first contributor to add citations to an article, you may choose whichever style you think best for the article. Handling links in citations As noted above, it is helpful to include hyperlinks to source material, when available. Here we note some issues concerning these links. Avoid embedded links Embedded links should never be used to place links to external websites in the body of an article. This form of inline citation is highly susceptible to link rot. Embedded links are used like this: * ...according to a news story by The Guardian. http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1601858,00.html This... * Apple, Inc. announced their latest product... Which looks like this: * ...according to a news story by The Guardian. http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1601858,00.html This... * Apple, Inc. announced their latest product... This type of linking is not recommended in lieu of properly written out citations, even if placed between ref tags. With a properly written citation, even if the link becomes a dead link, it at least provides enough information that the reader might be able to find the source elsewhere. Convenience links A convenience link is a link to a copy of your source on a webpage provided by someone other than the original publisher or author. For example, a copy of a newspaper article no longer available on the newspaper's website may be hosted elsewhere. When offering convenience links, it is important to be reasonably certain that the convenience copy is a true copy of the original, without any changes or inappropriate commentary, and that it does not infringe the original publisher's copyright. Accuracy can be assumed when the hosting website appears reliable. Where several sites host a copy of the material, the site selected as the convenience link should be the one whose general content appears most in line with a neutral point of view and reliability. Preventing and repairing dead links To help prevent dead links, persistent identifiers are available for some sources. Some journal articles have a digital object identifier (DOI); some online newspapers and blogs, and also Wikipedia, have permalinks that are stable. When permanent links aren't available, consider archiving the referenced document when writing the article; on-demand web archiving services such as WebCite are fairly easy to use. Dead links should be repaired or replaced if possible. Do not delete a citation merely because the URL is not working today. Follow these steps when you encounter a dead URL being used as a reliable source to support article content: # Confirm status: First, check the link to confirm that it is dead and not temporarily down. Search the website to see whether it has been rearranged. # Check for web archives: Many web archiving services exist; link to their archive of the URL's content, if available. Examples: #* The Internet Archive and WebCite have billions of archived webpages. See Wikipedia's articles on Using the Wayback Machine and WebCite. #* The UK Government Web Archive (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/webarchive/) preserves 1500 UK central government websites. Note: Most archives currently operate with a delay of ~18 months before a link is made public. # Remove convenience links: If the material was published on paper (e.g., academic journal, newspaper article, magazine, book), then the dead URL is not necessary. Simply remove the dead URL, leaving the remainder of the reference intact. # Find a replacement source: Search the web for quoted text, the article title, and parts of the URL. Consider contacting the website/person that originally published the reference and asking them to republish it. Ask other editors for help finding the reference somewhere else, including the one that added the reference. Find a different source that says essentially the same thing as the reference in question. In-text attribution In-text attribution is the attribution inside a sentence of material to its source. An inline citation should follow the attribution, usually at the end of the sentence or paragraph in question. For example: In-text attribution can be used with direct speech (a source's words between quotation marks, as a block quotation, or using the template); indirect speech (a source's words modified without quotation marks); close paraphrasing; and when loosely summarizing a source's position in your own words. It avoids inadvertent plagiarism, and helps the reader see where a position is coming from. Dealing with unsourced material If an article is unreferenced, you can tag it with the template. This way it will show up in the category for articles that need citations and can be fixed. * If a claim is doubtful but not harmful, use the template. * If a claim is doubtful and harmful, remove it from the article. You may want to move it to the talk page and ask for a source, unless it is very harmful or absurd, in which case it should not be posted to the talk page either. Use your common sense. * All unsourced contentious material about living persons must be removed from articles and talk pages immediately. The Central Oregon Wiki has a no-tolerance policy against libel. Citation templates and tools Citation templates and citation processing tools can be used to format citations consistently. List of citation templates * - for citing books and encyclopedias. * - for citing periodicals. * - for citing electronic sources. Citation processing tools * Citation Machine - will generate in MLA or APA using a book's ISBN; can also generate MLA, APA, Chicago, or Turabian by filling out forms. Further reading * Concordia Libraries (Concordia University). Citation and Style Guides. * Ritter, R. (2002). The Oxford Style Manual. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198605641 * The Writers' Workshop, Center for Writing Studies. "Citation Styles Handbook: APA", University of Illinois. * The Writers' Workshop, Center for Writing Studies. "Citation Styles Handbook: MLA", University of Illinois. * University of Chicago Press. (2003). The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition. ISBN 0-226-10403-6 * A writer's practical guide to MLA documentation * AMA Citation Style * Chicago/Turabian Documentation * Citation Guide – Turabian * Guide to Citation Style Guides * Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals * American Chemical Society reference style guidelines * How to write citations References Category:Help